A new tale from the e-commerce learning curve

That international object of desire, the Epiphone Tom Delonge Signature ES-333

Until now, I have dreaded the thought of someone overseas wanting to buy a guitar. International rates for large packages are prohibitively expensive, to the point where the shipping costs more than the guitar itself. Moreover, it's easy to get burned. I learned this the hard way seven or eight years ago when I sold a Fender P-bass to a guy in Italy, shipped it to him and then got slapped a few weeks later with a claim that it hadn't been delivered.

So you can imagine my reticence last week when I got an inquiry through our Amazon store (http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=A2B8QRMTEXNOMS) from Levi, a gentleman in Tamworth, Australia, asking about a guitar that has been hanging on the Piano Gallery Music Superstore's wall since October 2010, an Epiphone Tom Delonge ES-333. (Let me say right now, I get a kick being addressed as "Mate.")

Everybody knows I want to get every guitar in the store into the hands of people who will love and appreciate them. It's kind of like a pet adoption agency, and the Tom Delonge guitar is one of my favorites. But shipping it to Australia ourselves -- USPS, UPS, Fed Ex or DHL -- would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $700, which obviously will not do.

All seemed bleak until Levi mentioned www.MyUS.com, in Sarasota, Fla., apparently an alternative used by a lot of people Down Under. Here's how it works: For $10, Levi can set up a U.S. address, which is where I ship the guitar he's bought on Amazon.

Veteran digger that I am, this is what I learned from Hiram Pedraza, an account rep for MyUs. The company ships 12,000 to 15,000 parcels a day. Between 30 and 35 percent of their business via  Amazon sales. Their biggest markets are the United Kingdom and Australia, where guitars apparently cost three times what they do here.

I thought this would be of interest to anyone with an interest in e-commerce. Here's a useful link if you want to know more: www.myus.com/en/how-it-works/

New agent joins Anderson Group at Keller Williams

Cyndi Schwicht

Cyndi Schwicht has joined the Anderson Group at Keller Williams Realty East Idaho Market Center in Idaho Falls. Originally from Portland, Ore., Schwicht comes to real estate after several years in the music. She studied piano performance at Ricks College and Portland State Univeristy, and taught piano for over 20 years. She is also a graduate of the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology. Her passions include her family and helping people.

"We are truly lucky to have Cyndi join us here at Keller Williams" says broker Greg Vinnola. "We know Cyndi will be a great fit and that our customers will truly benefit from her joining us."

She can be reached by e-mail at cyndischwicht@gmail.com. The Keller Williams Realty East Idaho Market Center is located at 3525 Merlin Drive, and its phone number is (208) 529-8888.

The things you learn by reading what comes in your power bill ...

The Columbia Generating Station, near Richland, Wash.

Looking at my Idaho Falls Power bill the other day two items jumped out at me, both pointing to the long-term value of nuclear power. As as news goes it's not terribly sexy, but it will have an effect on how much we pay for electricity here so I think it ought to be of some interest.

First, a purchase agreement between the Energy Department, US Enrichment Corp., Energy Northwest and the Tennessee Valley Authority is going to allow the conversion of depleted uranium into low-cost fuel to be used at Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Wash. The station provides about 10 percent of the power marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration, which provides most of Idaho Falls' electricity. The parties involved estimate that this will reduce BPA's energy costs by $20 million between 2014 and 2017.

On a related note, the Columbia Generating Station -- the only nuclear plant in the Pacific Northwest -- has had its license extended to 2043 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The station is capable of producing more than 1,100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power a city the size of Seattle. This is baseload power, meaning that it is not affected by weather.

Not everyone of course is a big fan of nuclear energy. Checking the newspaper story in the Tri-Cities Herald, the license renewal was not met with unanimous hosannas (http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/05/25/1952326/columbia-generating-station-license.html).

In Idaho Falls, attitudes toward nuclear power tend to be more benign than other parts of the country. Looking for a link to illuminate this story, I ran across this commentary from Dan Yurman's Idaho Samizdat Nuke Notes blog, addressing a story in the New York Times, from April 2010 -- about a year before the earthquake and tsunami that made Fukushima a household name.
http://djysrv.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-public-support-is-thin-for-nuclear.html

About the health care law's 3.8 percent tax

John Eaton doesn't see himself as someone in the business of batting down falsehoods, but the 3.8 percent questions keep coming and he feels duty bound to answer them.

"Every week I get asked about it," said Eaton, government affairs director for the Idaho Association of Realtors, who was in Idaho Falls Wednesday to speak at the Realtors Political Action Committee picnic in Tautphaus Park.

The number 3.8 (go ahead and Google it) refers to a Medicare tax imposed by the new health care law on capital gains from investment income.

At some point in the past two years, Eaton said, a newspaper article reported that for anyone with an income above $200,000, or couples with adjusted gross income of more than $250,000, a 3.8 percent tax would be imposed on home sales and real estate transactions.

The AGI part was right, but a lot else was wrong, Eaton said. Once it went viral, people began hearing that if they sell a home for $100,000 they will be paying $3,800 to fund Medicare. As one might expect, this was not well received.

Here's the way it's actually intended to work, starting in 2013:

• If you report $1 million in capital gains (which can include real estate sales), you pay $19,000.
• If you report $600,000 in capital gains, you pay $3,800.
• If you report $525,000 in capital gains, you pay $950.
• If you report $500,001 in capital gains, you pay 38 cents.

Eaton said he doesn't see the provision affecting a lot of Idaho homeowners. "It may affect people in states where property values are higher," he said.

He suggested that anyone who wants a more detailed explanation should visit http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp.

I can already hear some of you fulminating about this, but for the sake of your blood pressure I would like to caution that the Realtors Political Action Committee is hardly a hotbed of liberalism. Here are its guiding principles:

• Protect private property rights
• Reduce unnecessary regulations and government intrusion
• Ensure a fair tax code
• Protect the American Dream of Home Ownership

Eaton's Twitter feed is https://twitter.com/IdahoRPAC.

Famed architect's home open to public on July 28

A home built by Art Troutner, Idaho's answer to Frank Lloyd Wright, will be open to the public July 28 from 10 a.m. to noon.

The Idaho Falls Historic Preservation Commission, in partnership with Century 21 High Desert Realty and Voigt Davis Realty, will be sponsoring an open house at two mid-century modern homes Saturday July 28.

The homes will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to noon. Members of the Historic Preservation Commission, city staff, and the realty firms will be on hand to answer any questions.

In the 1950s, because of the Atomic Energy Commission's National Reactor Testing Station (later the INL), Idaho Falls had the greatest growth of any community in Idaho. The city’s population increased 73 percent during the Eisenhower era, and the city's housing stock reflects it.

This tour allows members of the public to give themselves self-guided tours of two unique homes built then. The first is located at 460 9th Street, and was designed by the firm of Clinton Sunberg, one of the two principals of Sunberg and Sunberg. A long, low home with a prominent front door, the home integrates the rear patio and back yard, a new idea for homes after World War II (pre-war homes were oriented toward the street and had front porches more often than not.)

The second home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, was designed and built by Art Troutner in 1956 for Ada Poitevin. Troutner is best known for his company, Trus-joist, and his design of the Kibbie Dome at University of Idaho. The home appears circular, but has sixteen sides with a skylight in the center and a intriguing and innovative roof structure.

Troutner was the subject of an Outdoor Idaho documentary in 1998. Here is a link to an essay written about him and his 35-year career: http://idahoptv.org/outdoors/shows/designingidaho/troutneressay.html.

For more information on the open house, call the Planning Department at 612-8276.